


tessellate

by unbeat



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, M/M, Open Relationships, Polyamory, Space Pirates, and space barista(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-25 11:30:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10763364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbeat/pseuds/unbeat
Summary: snapshots of the intergalactic lives of barista kim minseok and the rogue captain slash mister head-over-heels-in-love kim junmyeon





	tessellate

Surprisingly, it’s the dimming of the ship lights that wakes Junmyeon up. He rolls over, yawning, and digs for his console to check the time. The screen blinks back a bleak 02:47 at him, and he flops back into his covers, cocooning himself deeper into his burrito blanket.

The hum of the ship’s engines and other running machinery almost lulls him back to sleep. He listens to the comfortable background noises, letting his eyes droop in response to the auditory load. Slumber is just within the reaches of his fingers when he hears a muffled thud in Luhan’s room next to him, accompanied by moans that sound suspiciously like Jongdae. And Baekhyun. Well. It seems he’s not the only one who has awoken at this ungodly hour.

He resigns himself to his three hours of sleep and kicks his legs around until they find the edge of the bed. Sliding himself into an upright position, Junmyeon contemplates resuming the modification of his (and Yixing’s) blueprint for the in-the-works proton consolidator. If properly designed with the correct materials, the ProCon would make it possible for people upon the _Sol Draconis_ to create tools from nothing. While this was far from a new concept, Junmyeon would be the first to break through into the field of mobile ProCons. Honestly, the only reason they were working so hard to develop a working mobile ProCon is because Kyungsoo’s kitchen knives had somehow found themselves in every sector of the ship but the kitchen sector, and now, they had nothing to cut their peaches with.

Realizing the ProCon would be too much to work with this early in the morning, Junmyeon decides against waking Yixing to further their plans. He makes his way to the side of his room where the tinted glass stretches from corner to corner. After tapping twice upon its surface, the tint becomes a degree more opaque, allowing him to see out at the great universe that faced him.

Stars twinkle in the distance. Pinpricks of colors fade in and out of sight, and Junmyeon marvels at the nebulae curling into each other. The sight never fails to take his breath away, and with that, he decides he will patrol for the rest of the night, if only to look out upon the seemingly expanse of space more.

He leaves his room after slipping into formal attire. As he walks past Luhan’s room, he hears the squeaking of the mattress box springs, and he makes a note to tease the three of them later if they ever manage to escape the room.

Junmyeon takes his usual route, making rounds through each of the living corridors before heading toward the top deck. As he turns the corner, he sees Yifan asleep at the telecommunication controls, and he grins to himself. He walks over, softly shaking him awake. “Commander.”

Yifan blinks groggily before sitting up. “Junmyeon. What are you doing?”

Junmyeon hides his amusement under a mask of stoicism. “It’s three in the morning, sir. Did you mean to fall asleep?”

“Fuck,” Yifan mutters. In a more respectful tone, he apologizes, “Sorry to worry you, Junmyeon.” He stands, gathering his materials. “I didn’t realize it was so late and must have dozed off.”

He walks off, and Junmyeon trails after him. “Do you need me to continue anything? Do you need me to help?”

Yifan dismisses him by shaking his head. “I’m fine, I can work on this later. I’ll be off to my room now.”

He continues in the same direction, and Junmyeon looks after him in confusion. “Commander, you do realize you’re going the wrong way?”

Yifan stops in his track. Turning around slowly, he shoots a sheepish smile at Junmyeon. “What would I do without you,” he wonders, and Junmyeon waves him off with a laugh.

After checking that Yifan did, in fact, go into the correct sleeping bunk, Junmyeon resumes his walk around. Everything seems to be working properly, and he doesn’t encounter anyone else until he emerges from the control room to the dining hall.

Minseok is eye level with the counter, brows furrowed at a single coffee bean that lies seemingly innocent in front of him. Junmyeon hesitates on entering any further for fear of disturbing something he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he continues on with small, quiet steps.

“Junmyeon, on a scale of zero to galactic infinity, how bad of an idea is it to inject additional laxatives into Luhan’s coffee supply?”

Junmyeon balks. He quickly compiles a list of reasons why it would be a very _very_ bad thing if Luhan were to be shitting even more than he already does. “We’re running low on the water supply,” he tries weakly, “and our budget might not allow us to get water at our next stop?”

Minseok finally raises his gaze from the bean to glance at Junmyeon. “Okay,” he concedes. “Although we all know you could just withdraw thousands of won from your travels account to pay for our journey for another millennium.”

Junmyeon sighs in relief. Minseok could be quite vengeful in nature, a product of him having lived on the streets of Earth during his teenage years. It was a stroke of luck that when he had attempted to pickpocket Yifan on his first visit back to Earth in years, Yifan had merely laughed before giving him the entire contents of his physical wallet. Awed by the act of generosity, Minseok took his chances and stole aboard the ship. He was found by Zitao mere seconds after they left the orbit of Earth, but Yifan didn’t mind the stowaway, who quickly found his niche upon _Sol Draconis_ as a great business negotiator and barista.

“Do I want to know what Luhan did?” Junmyeon asks as he takes his seat across from Minseok.

Minseok busies himself with pouring a cup of water for Junmyeon and slides it in front of him. “He told me the grounded coffee particles were too big and made the coffee taste like shit, then proceeded to decline my offer of him making it himself. So I thought it would be fitting for him to become closer acquainted with shit.”

Cringing, Junmyeon takes a sip of the water. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“You could never,” Minseok beams at Junmyeon. “I respect you too much for that.”

It would be cliché to say Junmyeon’s heart flutters, but alas, his heart flutters. They sit in silence, sipping at their respective drinks. “So why are you awake?” Minseok finally asks, head tilting to his right.

“Jongdae is with Luhan,” Junmyeon motions vaguely. “Baekhyun is with them.”

Minseok pulls a face. “Are you sure you don’t want me to do anything to Luhan?”

Junmyeon laughs at the eagerness in Minseok’s voice. “Put the animosity aside, Minseok, let them have their fun.”

“I can’t help it,” Minseok almost whines. “Luhan is so weirdly antagonistic at times, but then he turns around and is kind to me.”

Junmyeon doesn’t want to mention that Luhan is probably in the same predicament as him. As in, Minseok has quickly and unknowingly set up residency in both of their hearts with his charmingly simple mannerisms. He deflects and says, “At least Baekhyun is being treated well tonight.” At Minseok’s quizzical glance, he expands with, “Jongdae and Luhan are actually the sweetest lovers. Their aftercare is the most attentive on the ship.”

Junmyeon catches his mistake too late. Minseok nods in understanding. “So you’ve slept with everyone on the ship?”

He fights the blush that threatens to bloom on his face. “Yes,” he says as offhandedly as he can. “From a scientific point of view, it can strengthen our team bond-”

“Everyone?” Minseok presses on. At this point, he’s staring him in the eyes and Junmyeon resists the urge to close his own to blindly escape.

“Well, yes—”

“Not everyone!” Minseok blurts impatiently. The heavy implication of his words hangs in the air, quickly increasing the awkwardness of the situation. Junmyeon is torn between running as fast as he can to the comfort of his own room and ordering the older man to calm him down.

“Not everyone,” Minseok repeats, quieter. “Sorry. You should probably leave—”

Junmyeon reaches over the counter, grabbing at Minseok’s shoulder before he turns away. The man is stiff under his touch, but he complies with facing Junmyeon.

He doesn’t realize he’s staring until Minseok coughs, clearly wanting him to let go so he can wade in his misery alone. “Ah, Minseok…”

“It’s okay.” Minseok sighs dejectedly. “I should have known you wouldn’t have been attracted to a nobody like me.” He backs away, letting Junmyeon’s hand fall off his arm.

Junmyeon changes tactics, using the voice normally reserved for battlefield orders, cultivated from years of demanding respect at the academy. “Minseok. Turn around.”

He visibly stiffens before following his directions, and Junmyeon takes the opportunity to hop over the counter. At this distance, he can see how genetics and years of malnutrition has stunted Minseok, although he isn’t one to judge as a less-than-average heighted man himself.

Running his hands through his own hair, Junmyeon continues in a much softer tone. “Minseok, I am attracted to you regardless of your social status. I have been attracted to you. Based on your words, I presume you are also attracted to me and wish to sleep—”

Minseok groans, hiding his face behind his hands. “Please. Don’t say it out loud.”

After a pause, Junmyeon resumes. “You are attracted to me, and I am attracted to you. I want to know you better—”

Interrupting once again, Minseok mumbles, “Why are you being so clinical about this,” and steps forward, heels lifting off the ground to bring his face closer to Junmyeon’s. He stands still as Minseok blinks slowly, allowing his eyelashes to flutter against Junmyeon’s cheek, before he turns his head and their lips meet.

There are no fireworks, no loud shouts of excitement, no heart beating fast enough to leap out of his chest. That last one might be a lie. But as Junmyeon closes his eyes, the image beyond the window behind Minseok imposes itself onto the back of his eyelids, and Junmyeon kisses Minseok with the universe expanding in his mind.

When they finally break apart for the filtered oxygen of the ship, Junmyeon is panting hard and Minseok wears a smug look on his eyes. “You admitted you like me,” he baits.

Junmyeon responds with another kiss, shorter this time. Teasingly, he says, “You were jealous that I’ve slept with the others aboard the ship.”

Minseok scowls. “Are we a thing? I don’t want to be a thing. What if it turns out we don’t really like each other because we haven’t really gotten to know each other and this is just lust addling our brains and Luhan’s hormonal behavior is rubbing off on us—”

Junmyeon shuts him up with his lips, taking pleasure in how eagerly Minseok returns the kiss. “We don’t have to be together. You can explore the others as much you want. And stop talking about Luhan.”

“Baekhyun looks like a fun person in the sheets, Junmyeon, tell me more about him,” he counters breathlessly, and Junmyeon laughs as Minseok pushes him against the counter and dives for his lips again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a birthday fic for my dearest xiuho (fucker) friend... it's rushed and sloppy but it's literally the least i could do for someone like you ;; happy birthday mimi!!!
> 
> this will actually be a series of some sort if i ever get around to finishing some other works. and the rating for this chapter is pg-13, but the next chapters will be higher. probably. most likely.


End file.
